Everyone has heard about it. Not everyone is clear about how it impacts their life. First, is total cholesterol, which is a combination of the good and bad cholesterols found in your bloodstream: HDL ( think H for happy, we want this as High as possible). There is also the Very bad cholesterol: VLDL (think Very Lousy). Then there are the Triglycerides, made up of three (tri) glyceride molecules. Together these five measures makeup the most important parts of the cholesterol panel. Some doctors measure other components of cholesterol such as lipoprotein a, strongly affected by your genetics. In general, the above parameters are the most important in your general cholesterol care.